Zero

I read criticism on one of the Facebook CPTSD pages that a recommended video personality for healing from CPTSD was not a trained psychologist or psychiatrist. Guess what most of them aren’t. My son and son-in-law both have psychology degrees, do you know how many hours of class was spent on trauma training? That’s right, zero. Zero hours of class time for a bachelors degree in psychology discussing the impact of trauma on emotional health. Some people that live with CPTSD/PTSD spent years studying it because they live with it everyday. Not zero days, but every single day and they learned some coping skills. They share what they learned, I feel annoyed when someone points out the person is not trained and start name calling. Do I believe a well trained therapist is priceless? Absolutely, however some of us that spent years in the trenches of trauma learned a thing or two. If the person is a fraud trying to make money off of people desperate for answers, by all means call them on it. However, if they have answers from sources other than training in a university, great. I know that I read several biographies/autobiographies of other survivors trying to wrap my mind around the challenges I face everyday. I do not get time off for good behavior. I do not get a break from the relentless nagging of nightmares. I learned how to manage things better. I learned a bunch from my first therapist. I fired my third therapist because it was obvious to me that she had no understanding of my problems and issues. My fourth therapist had a great understanding of depression but I just couldn’t tell her some of the deepest ugliest memories. She was too nice for me to burden her with those memories. One in 4 of my trained therapist really understood trauma. I am continually on the look out for more information to help people living with the effects of trauma. Some methods may sound unconventional, some are weird but work, some help one person another person may be triggered by the very thing that helps someone else. Sadly, the “trained” field is trying to fit a one size fits all pattern for complex, read that again, complex problems. I like my sister’s quote, “If a solution fits in a nutshell, it should probably stay there.” I keep looking for better ways to live and grow. I am cautious of those that promise a once and done solution. I am careful about how much money I spend. But I also keep in my the thousands of dollars spent on trained counseling. Education is powerful and not all of it comes from a university or a degree.

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2 thoughts on “Zero”

absolutely right. I have been to psychologists and counselors who were totally unable to get me to where I am now with a psychologist who has trauma and childhood trauma specialist training, and she is the person after years of seeking help who is actually moving me through a lot of my things, so I can move forward. The other place is with others who are or have or just beginning on this horrendously difficult life of living with a mental illness. My opinions and I was (as in up until my breakdown) a Registered Nurse and further qualification in mental health. (where we learnt nothing about the actual illnesses really). I was fortunate to have worked in facilities, and where I worked in community mental health to have learnt heaps than i did from my mental health post grad diploma. I would be such a better mental health nurse, now. My lived experience can not compete with all the empathy I had with my patients and clients.